Dog Hill in Nagasaki: My Secret Corgi Cafe

People often come to Japan of get their fill of cute. Cute clothes, cute characters, cute food, and yes of course cute cafes. This cafe hidden by the sea in the outskirts of Nagasaki is sure to give anyone their fill of cute in the form of adorable Corgi puppies. Yes the rumors are true, there is a Corgi cafe in Japan.

I am going to be honest and say that you will most likely never find yourself close to Dog Hill Cafe while doing the normal traveling route around Japan. You will have to go well out of your way to find it, but let me tell you, if you love dogs this is worth it. It is pretty far away from Nagasaki to the north, just south of the small town of Kawatana.

Retired corgi breeders decided to buy property on the hill, start a cafe and are still raising corgi’s now as a hobby. We usually would take a taxi to this magical cafe, and after pulling off the highway up the steep driveway we run right into it. Arriving at the entrance you are greeted by the sounds of puppies chirping, claws sliding around on tile and all the Corgi cuteness you can handle.

The area around the building is gated, but the waist high fence doesn’t deter our four legged friends the chance to jump up and get a peek of us as we unlatched the small door and unleashed the mini chaos of a dozen Corgis eager to greet their new friends.

The owners are quite friendly, although speaking little-to-no English, and welcomed us in with a smile. They serve the usual coffee, beer and food made to order in a small indoor dining area. The cafe has a patio and garden where the dogs roam free.

Most of the dogs are older, and there are other breeds running around as well. Although mostly Corgis, a couple Dachshunds can be found working their way into the mix trying to get scratches and rubs from anyone willing to give.

Being frequent visitors of the cafe, the owners would often give us sweets and food not on the menu, or tell us about any new dogs they bred. One time they went upstairs where they keep most of their dogs, and brought down a couple week old corgi puppies. Another time they told us they were breeding a mix of Corgi and French Bull Dog, and proceeded to bring the puppies down for us to enjoy.

If you go, ask to to see if they have puppies. If you get lucky they might have a few upstairs for you.

At one point they tried to give us a Corgi. Yes, literally for free. A tiny Corgi/French Bulldog mix. It was the cutest thing, but unfortunately we couldn’t accept the dog knowing we had nowhere to keep it, and would soon be leaving Japan to return to America. That was a decision I still get sad about today. He was awesome and definitely would have been my best friend.

This place will always be one of my most vivid memories of all from my time in Japan. It’s beauty is unmatched, sitting above the roadway next to it looking out over the beautiful Omura Bay. The dogs friendly, and the owners friendlier. The amount of happiness that place has it unmatched, by far the best cafe I have ever been to in Japan. If you can squeeze it into your trip, GO!